Intercon K: The Recap
So, I started off panicked on Thursday because elenuial had informed me that he'd likely be unable to attend. This was a bit hard to swallow, as I was a) headed out the door, b) really looking forward to him being there and c) now running a game alone.
But I got a call from him on Friday night letting me know that he had escaped the clutches of the Grad School monster, and I swung by Saturday morning to pick him up and check on the wee beastie.
Thursday Thing
I went to the Race and Larp panel, which ended at 3:30 AM and involved me sitting on shadowravyn's lap and feeding her strawberries, divvying up the month of March, and the "read a book" music video (NSFW). And talking about race.
Friday afternoon was the Mental Illness in Larp panel, which I didn't think I'd really be able to contribute to, but I did manage to be helpful, I think. Then lots of time stressing and panicking about Better off Dead, finally reaching the point of acceptance and a kind of drive to "run it awesomely, even if it's alone, because I've done crazier things!"
Princess of Norland
I was pretty jazzed for this game, and, to be honest, was sorely disappointed the moment I got my character sheet. I loved my costume - the linen dress with gold and pink feather earrings - and everyone looked so fabulous, but there was absolutely nothing to my character. She had no interpersonal connections outside of "you see this person at court" and "this person is your queen." No friends, no nothing. Her entire role was to get two people married - two people who, within the first five minutes of game, let her know that they would rather die than do that. And, upon further investigation, yes, there was no way for that to happen. The only people who had plot were the princesses or princes and the people directly connected with them, otherwise you were waiting in the wings a whole lot for when the real main characters needed you. Like a play, where you were a minor role.
Trouble is, that sucks.
So my character had nothing to do. No personality (seriously, the character sheet was JUST political information), no other goals, no nothing. So I made up something to do - negotiate and write treaties. And just as I was getting to be busy, the GMs came over and told me not to care about the treaties so much, as they weren't important in fairytales.
Not important? Like my entire character?
My game ended half an hour in, guys. I sat around and waited a lot, because anytime I tried to do anything not related to the marriage, you stopped me. PLEASE let me have something to do for ten minutes.
The last half hour of game was spent with about half the cast sitting around, having run out of things to do a long time ago. And then, at game wrap, a bunch of players pretty much had the same deal as I did. One thing to do, and that was it. AND! the GMs had the nerve to tell me that "you shouldn't nitpick so much at treaties in a fairytale!"
...
Then you should give us something to do, instead of making six main characters and a bunch of supporting players who only get to do things when said main characters need them.
All in all, really wish I'd signed up for something else.
Identity Crisis
Okay, this game I absolutely loved. The combat mechanic has a bunch of bugs to work out and they need more GMs, but I otherwise had a fantastic time.
I played Tone Death, a metal singer who was considered a villain, though she'd fight just about anyone. gower played her mastermind boss, who was constantly thinking circles around her. It was a lot of fun to play with him, and he kind of became a secondary dad - or at least, someone TD really respected. It was also neat to see the changes in their interactions as she was more and more successful at the things he gave her to do. It went from a pat on the shoulder to a half-hug to a kiss on the head when he passed. Which was very well done, if intentional, and made her impassioned speeches to Ion much more believable.
Speaking of Ion, the guy who played him was a blast to play off of. He was a superhero, naive, and seriously in love with TD - a common problem between heroes and villains. We tried being subtle about it at first, but then ended up having huge spats on the rooftops - aka out in the hallways, the common area of gamespace. Other players came up to us afterwards and said that they'd stopped to watch the two of us interact, as it was potentially their favorite part of the game. At one point, we had a four-person audience watching one of our disputes, sitting against the wall and miming eating popcorn (though they might have been in character xD). Also, as we were on the opposing sides of a mission, our respective bosses made us face off against each other as I whined about it being the worst anniversary ever. The resulting whiff fight was epic.
TD was simultaneously one of the most fun and most vulgar characters I've ever played, and a lot of the game mechanics (missions, scenarios, newspaper clippings) were great and could really be fantastic with a little tweaking. If anyone who likes over-the-top comic books gets a chance to play, I'd say to go for it.
Better off Dead
Ah, ghad. Too much to say. Lemme sum it up:
Game setup takes forever. My players are awesome. It was a really good time. I want to make 3465678754 changes. It's running again at Larpercalia. There are pictures on facebook. The end.
The Other Other All-Batman Game
This game is AWESOME.
Seriously.
AWESOME.
It's two hours of Batman camp insanity. I played Lenore Case, the Green Hornet's assistant/secretary, and I was Batman for a good quarter of it. It didn't help that my Green Hornet was the guy who'd played my Ion in Identity Crisis, and apparently had voiced The Shadow in radio plays in the past. He knew the Hornet inside and out and we had some great moments, especially in the classic
"Boss, your tie is crooked. Here."
"Thanks, Casey. What would I do without you?"
"..."
kind of way.
I got to be the Riddler, The Penguin, and the Hornet as well as myself and Batman, and the mechanics are really fantastic and easy to pick up. The level of ridiculousness in the game was great, as everyone camped up the dialogue and said things like "It's too bad that Batman isn't here!" "(a Batman swoops in) "Did someone call for Justice?"
One of my favorite things to do was use the costumes to do things like break Kato out of jail as Batman, then call out "As Batman, I assume full responsibility!" as I ran, leaving the next Batman to walk in to deal with the aftermath.
Most Batmans in a room: 8
Least Batmans in a room: 2
Characters who didn't dress as Batman at least once: 1
And this is a game that you can play over and over again, because everyone already knows everything and it's fantastic. I want to see if I can get enough interest to run a guerilla run at Larpercalia or something.
Possibly one of my favorite games ever. I can't wait to see a few pictures of me as Lenore Case with the Hornet, both in full costume. =)
Now I am home and don't know what to do with myself these days. Wedding planning, I guess. And get ready for Larpercalia, of course.
But for now, con crash. And watching Elsa try to figure out the new puzzle I got her. Four hours so far - best $5 I ever spent.
But I got a call from him on Friday night letting me know that he had escaped the clutches of the Grad School monster, and I swung by Saturday morning to pick him up and check on the wee beastie.
Thursday Thing
I went to the Race and Larp panel, which ended at 3:30 AM and involved me sitting on shadowravyn's lap and feeding her strawberries, divvying up the month of March, and the "read a book" music video (NSFW). And talking about race.
Friday afternoon was the Mental Illness in Larp panel, which I didn't think I'd really be able to contribute to, but I did manage to be helpful, I think. Then lots of time stressing and panicking about Better off Dead, finally reaching the point of acceptance and a kind of drive to "run it awesomely, even if it's alone, because I've done crazier things!"
Princess of Norland
I was pretty jazzed for this game, and, to be honest, was sorely disappointed the moment I got my character sheet. I loved my costume - the linen dress with gold and pink feather earrings - and everyone looked so fabulous, but there was absolutely nothing to my character. She had no interpersonal connections outside of "you see this person at court" and "this person is your queen." No friends, no nothing. Her entire role was to get two people married - two people who, within the first five minutes of game, let her know that they would rather die than do that. And, upon further investigation, yes, there was no way for that to happen. The only people who had plot were the princesses or princes and the people directly connected with them, otherwise you were waiting in the wings a whole lot for when the real main characters needed you. Like a play, where you were a minor role.
Trouble is, that sucks.
So my character had nothing to do. No personality (seriously, the character sheet was JUST political information), no other goals, no nothing. So I made up something to do - negotiate and write treaties. And just as I was getting to be busy, the GMs came over and told me not to care about the treaties so much, as they weren't important in fairytales.
Not important? Like my entire character?
My game ended half an hour in, guys. I sat around and waited a lot, because anytime I tried to do anything not related to the marriage, you stopped me. PLEASE let me have something to do for ten minutes.
The last half hour of game was spent with about half the cast sitting around, having run out of things to do a long time ago. And then, at game wrap, a bunch of players pretty much had the same deal as I did. One thing to do, and that was it. AND! the GMs had the nerve to tell me that "you shouldn't nitpick so much at treaties in a fairytale!"
...
Then you should give us something to do, instead of making six main characters and a bunch of supporting players who only get to do things when said main characters need them.
All in all, really wish I'd signed up for something else.
Identity Crisis
Okay, this game I absolutely loved. The combat mechanic has a bunch of bugs to work out and they need more GMs, but I otherwise had a fantastic time.
I played Tone Death, a metal singer who was considered a villain, though she'd fight just about anyone. gower played her mastermind boss, who was constantly thinking circles around her. It was a lot of fun to play with him, and he kind of became a secondary dad - or at least, someone TD really respected. It was also neat to see the changes in their interactions as she was more and more successful at the things he gave her to do. It went from a pat on the shoulder to a half-hug to a kiss on the head when he passed. Which was very well done, if intentional, and made her impassioned speeches to Ion much more believable.
Speaking of Ion, the guy who played him was a blast to play off of. He was a superhero, naive, and seriously in love with TD - a common problem between heroes and villains. We tried being subtle about it at first, but then ended up having huge spats on the rooftops - aka out in the hallways, the common area of gamespace. Other players came up to us afterwards and said that they'd stopped to watch the two of us interact, as it was potentially their favorite part of the game. At one point, we had a four-person audience watching one of our disputes, sitting against the wall and miming eating popcorn (though they might have been in character xD). Also, as we were on the opposing sides of a mission, our respective bosses made us face off against each other as I whined about it being the worst anniversary ever. The resulting whiff fight was epic.
TD was simultaneously one of the most fun and most vulgar characters I've ever played, and a lot of the game mechanics (missions, scenarios, newspaper clippings) were great and could really be fantastic with a little tweaking. If anyone who likes over-the-top comic books gets a chance to play, I'd say to go for it.
Better off Dead
Ah, ghad. Too much to say. Lemme sum it up:
Game setup takes forever. My players are awesome. It was a really good time. I want to make 3465678754 changes. It's running again at Larpercalia. There are pictures on facebook. The end.
The Other Other All-Batman Game
This game is AWESOME.
Seriously.
AWESOME.
It's two hours of Batman camp insanity. I played Lenore Case, the Green Hornet's assistant/secretary, and I was Batman for a good quarter of it. It didn't help that my Green Hornet was the guy who'd played my Ion in Identity Crisis, and apparently had voiced The Shadow in radio plays in the past. He knew the Hornet inside and out and we had some great moments, especially in the classic
"Boss, your tie is crooked. Here."
"Thanks, Casey. What would I do without you?"
"..."
kind of way.
I got to be the Riddler, The Penguin, and the Hornet as well as myself and Batman, and the mechanics are really fantastic and easy to pick up. The level of ridiculousness in the game was great, as everyone camped up the dialogue and said things like "It's too bad that Batman isn't here!" "(a Batman swoops in) "Did someone call for Justice?"
One of my favorite things to do was use the costumes to do things like break Kato out of jail as Batman, then call out "As Batman, I assume full responsibility!" as I ran, leaving the next Batman to walk in to deal with the aftermath.
Most Batmans in a room: 8
Least Batmans in a room: 2
Characters who didn't dress as Batman at least once: 1
And this is a game that you can play over and over again, because everyone already knows everything and it's fantastic. I want to see if I can get enough interest to run a guerilla run at Larpercalia or something.
Possibly one of my favorite games ever. I can't wait to see a few pictures of me as Lenore Case with the Hornet, both in full costume. =)
Now I am home and don't know what to do with myself these days. Wedding planning, I guess. And get ready for Larpercalia, of course.
But for now, con crash. And watching Elsa try to figure out the new puzzle I got her. Four hours so far - best $5 I ever spent.